Quarterback Colt McCoy

On if his time away from starting has made him a different quarterback:

"Am I a different quarterback? I would say I'm older, maybe a little bit stronger. I think I've learned from a lot of my past experiences, and I've watched a lot of good quarterbacks play. Hopefully by doing that, you naturally gain a little bit of confidence even though you're standing on the sidelines. I think that would be probably accurate."

On if his shoulder injury from college affected his tenure in Cleveland and if it is still an issue:

"You don't ever want to make excuses or bring up injuries from the past. I was well enough to play, but with a nerve injury you really have to stay on top of it. Any quarterback who has had one, it's been a real issue. Mine was a real issue, but I'd like to say I'm over that now."

On how special it would be to start in Dallas:

"Yeah, it's really unbelievable. I can't even sometimes take my mind there. But, I'm really just trying to approach this as a professional and know that this is our next game, this is our next opponent. It's a game in our division that we really need to win. This week is really important, and I think it'll be helpful for me to get some reps. I didn't have any reps last week, so I'll get some timing down with the receivers, with the O-line, work on our silent counts – a lot of things that I just hadn't been able to do. So, it'll be a huge week in practice for me to get more comfortable with the guys, but obviously this is a huge game for us and our season. We need a good, sharp week."

On the journey from being a successful college quarterback to a backup in the NFL:

"It's tough, it's tough, but I wouldn't change some of my past experiences. I've learned a lot from them – a whole lot. I've seen a lot. My path in the NFL so far has been a lot different than other guys, but I'm thankful for the things I've learned and the experience I've gained. I've been in some good places with some good coaches, and like I mentioned after the game, I really feel confident with our coaches here, with our players here with this organization. My teammates have welcomed me in. They kind of surrounded me and helped me last week and hopefully they'll continue to do the same thing for me this week. If we go down there to Dallas this week – and Jay [Gruden] mentioned after practice that this is a huge game for us, but it's defense, it's offense, it's special teams, it's everybody, you know? I didn't go in and win the game last week. Our defense played well. They got some nice stops for us. The guys kind of brought me in and they played well around me, and I just distributed the football. Hopefully, we can do the same thing this week."

On if the uncertainty about whether or not he is starting is distracting:

"My focus is I'm just going to prepare as the starter. There's nothing else that I can do. The decision is not up to me. What I can control is what I can control. The reps that I get, the time I spend up here preparing for Dallas… They're obviously 6-1, a great football team. We're going to have to bring our best game to Dallas on Monday night. My focus is just to take it day-to-day, not look forward to anything but live in the now and approach it just like I would every other week."

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On if he has received encouragement from quarterbacks Kirk Cousins or Robert Griffin III:

"I feel like we have a pretty solid room. There's always been good communication since I've been here, and I don't think that will change. I don't think that will change at all. When Kirk was starting, we were both really supportive of Kirk, and when Robert was starting, Kirk and I were both supportive of Robert. It is a competition every day. I've had to approach my job that way ever since I've been in the NFL. I don't think that will change me. The only difference is I'm taking the reps this week and I'm preparing to start."

On if it is a mental challenge to keep from playing outside of himself with this 'huge opportunity':

"Yeah, I guess it could be. Like I said, I am really just focused on right now. We are going over first and second down, their base defense. I am really just trying to get a grasp of what they do, how they play. They have beaten a lot of good teams, a lot of good quarterbacks. So, we obviously know that this is a huge task for us as an offense. I just don't want to get caught up in this 'huge opportunity' thing. I just want to go out there and be who I am – that is who I am every day in here – be confident and play the best football I can play."

On if he agrees with Head Coach Jay Gruden that it is helpful for the team to know its starting quarterback early in the week:

"Yeah, I would agree with that for sure. I think just for your team, that's accurate."

On the last time he started a game in Texas:

"I started my rookie year, we played in Houston. I think that would probably be the last time – when I was in Cleveland, we played in Dallas but I was the backup."

On how it important it would be for him to start in the state of Texas:

"I was going to get a few tickets before I wasn't playing and now it has turned into a laundry list. I don't want it to be too big of a distraction though. I am excited about going back to Dallas. It is going to be a lot of fun."

On receiving his first snaps with the first team today:

"It felt good, it felt good. I think the biggest thing for me is getting on the same page with guys like DeSean [Jackson], Pierre [Garçon], Andre [Roberts], Jordan Reed – working with Alfred [Morris] and Roy [Helu, Jr.]. Those things, you know, naturally as a quarterback, you know where the guys are supposed to be but throwing to them in the rhythm and the timing of the play is – you can't replace those reps that you get in practice. That is huge for me, that is huge for my confidence and even though we were pretty efficient in the game Sunday, we've still got to keep working, spend some time with each other and I think that will be huge this week."

On what confidence he can carry into this week after the final drive last week:

"Yeah, that was huge for us. We really, really needed to win that game. We didn't necessarily want to have to win it at the very end of the game, but for our offense to step on the field and put a drive together and go down and get a field goal to win was huge. I think the team and the coaches and our organization will build off of that. You know, I certainly hope so. As an offense, for us as a unit, you know that was big too, doing that at home, something we really wanted to do was win that game and that was big for us. So hopefully there will be some carryover there for sure."

On if the locker room feels different for Dallas Week after winning last week:

"Yeah, I think that any place that you play or anywhere you are, you know games in your division are obviously – there is more excitement and more focus. So, yeah, you can definitely feel it in the building for sure. Going down there on Monday night, for us as a team, we just have to do what we do best and that's focus, control what we can control, practice well, in order to prepare ourselves for the challenge we have on Monday night."